Quantifying the Induced Land Use Change by Biofuels

Abstract: 

Expansion of biofuel production, in the form of corn ethanol and biodiesel, in the United States, has raised concern regarding its land-use change effects which has implications for the carbon mitigation potential of biofuels. Despite numerous studies over more than a decade there remains significant uncertainty about the extent to which observed land use change in the US can be attributed directly to biofuel production. Quantifying the magnitude of the induced land use change by biofuels remains a critical issue for policy that seeks to differentiate among biofuels based on their carbon intensity. This presentation will discuss the scientific challenges in quantifying the land use change by biofuels precisely and the sources of uncertainty in estimates and present findings from recent studies using both econometric and simulation modeling techniques.


Bio:
Dr. Madhu Khanna is the ACES Distinguished Professor of Environmental Economics in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics and Alvin H. Baum Family Chair and Director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. Her research is at the intersection of agricultural, energy and environmental economics and includes analysis of the land use and environmental effects of bioenergy, the potential for climate smart agriculture and digital farming practices and effectiveness of alternative policy approaches. Her research has led to more than 150 peer-reviewed publications that are widely cited. She has served on the USEPA Science Advisory Board for 10 years and as a Chair/member of review panels for NIFA, USEPA and NSF and as a member of USDOE Technical Advisory Committee. She has served on the editorial boards of several prestigious disciplinary and interdisciplinary journals. She is a University of Illinois Scholar, a Stanford Woods Institute of Environment Leopold Leadership Fellow and a Fellow and past President of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

Summary: